Category: Smashed

FilmCritHulk from Badass Digest named Smashed one of his favorite films of 2012, coming in at #10 which was tied with Cloud Atlas. Below is his review:

10. CLOUD ATLAS / SMASHED (TIE)

OKAY HULK COULDN’T EVEN GO ONE ENTRY WITHOUT CHEATING. BUT HULK COULDN’T NOT INCLUDE EITHER ONE OF THESE FILMS. AND QUITE FRANKLY, THIS UNLIKELY PAIR SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT THE RANGE OF WHAT CINEMA CAN BE. ON ONE HAND, SMASHED APPROACHES EARNESTNESS FROM A WHOLLY INTIMATE SETTING WITH STRICTLY REALISTIC INTENTION. IN DOING SO IT IS PERHAPS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A “SMALL MOVIE,” BUT GLORIOUSLY SO. IT’S ALL SUBTLETY AND GRACE, OFTEN RESTING ON THE SHOULDERS OF AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE FROM MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD. IT ESCHEWS MORALITY, REFRAINS FROM DIDACTICISM AND SIMPLY SEEKS TO ESTABLISH THE JOYS OF SELF-TRUTH. AND IN DOING SO, IT IS, AS IT IS INTENDED TO BE, SOBERING. AS FOR THE OTHER FILM? CLOUD ATLAS IS PRETTY MUCH THE EXACT OPPOSITE. IT’S THE “BIGGEST” FILM IMAGINABLE AND SCREAMS ITS MESSAGE FROM THE MOUNTAINTOPS, DRILLING IT INTO OUR PSYCHES; THAT MESSAGE BEING THE INESCAPABLE NEED AND CRITICAL FUNCTION OF HUMANITIES’ BASIC, RUDIMENTARY GOODNESS. AT ONCE DISMISSIBLE AS A “KINDERGARTEN LESSON” IT INSTEAD DEFINES ITSELF PROUDLY BY THAT CHARACTERIZATION. IT WAS ONCE REJECTED BY A FELLOW CRITIC WHO CALLED IT “SIX B MOVIES THAT SUPPOSEDLY ADD UP TO SOMETHING MORE SIGNIFICANT,” BUT IF YOU ASK HULK, YOU CAN TAKE OUT THE “SUPPOSEDLY.” THESE ARE TWO FILMS THAT ARE ACTUALLY ABOUT ONE HUMAN TRUTH, AND HULK ADORES THE WAY THEY ARRIVE THERE FROM STUNNINGLY DIFFERENT APPROACHES.

Also, amestrib.com writes that Mary “gives the performance of her career” in the film:

It doesn’t reinvent the alcoholism drama, it just gives it youth and heartbreak. Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives the performance of her career as a young teacher who struggles to grow up, get sober and start over. Standing in her way? Her adoring husband (Aaron Paul), the love of her life, but her co-dependent enabler. This is what the downward spiral is like, and this is how rough recovery can be.

One of the FirstShowing editors chose Smashed as one of his favorite films of 2012 largely in part due to Mary’s performance. Here’s what he had to say:

Winstead, a great actress with a very hit-or-miss filmography, found a fantastic script to showcase another of her excellent performances with James Ponsoldt’s Smashed, in which she plays an alcoholic named Kate who tries to get her life back on track. Like the film itself, Winstead is raw and unflinching here, unafraid to imbue her performance with real devastating emotion instead of hinging on cliche and melodrama to get the job done. Kate is damaged goods, and the normally-cheery Winstead disappears into the character, giving her a powerful sense of intensity that shines whenever she’s on screen.

UK site HeyUGuys has reviewed Smashed and I’ve posted part of it below. Hit the link to read the review in full:

Winstead will probably be best known to most for her performances in films such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Die Hard 4.0, The Thing and Final Destination 3. She’s always given the impression that she’s an actress with a great deal of talent, even if she’s rarely been given much to sink her teeth into here. Kudos then to Smashed director James Ponsoldt who saw enough raw ability in Winstead to hand her the challenging lead role of Kate Hannah.

The film comes in at a slender 81 minutes, so it’s clear this was never meant to be a comprehensive breakdown of addiction and recovery. We join and leave Kate at moments that feel like they could be occurring in the middle of her story.

Sometimes that’s to the film’s detriment. We get hints at Kate’s back story that feel jarringly unexplored, and skipping past stages in the recovery process often feel convenient as they surely would have been the most challenging to portray on screen. The main focus therefore falls on Kate’s relationship with Charlie, and as their relationship and Kate’s career start to crumble there’s an interesting thread about how the honesty that comes with sobriety can be just as destructive as the initial dependency.

For what it sets out to achieve and the amount it chooses to portray, Smashed does a solid job – made all the more notable thanks to Winstead. From her heartbreakingly raw and fearless scenes as an unwieldy drunkard, to those with pain, anguish and struggle etched onto her face as a now sober young woman all too aware that her life is falling apart around her, Winstead loudly announces that there’s a lot more to her than simply being the love interest of a Vampire Hunter. Aided by a similarly strong supporting cast (which includes Megan Mullally, Octavia Spencer and a wonderful turn from Nick Offerman), Winstead doesn’t expose Smashed, but rather garners it more credit and attention than perhaps it would otherwise have deserved.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars